Seizing opportunities for sustainable change in agriculture
As agricultural businesses explore innovative, sustainable ways of producing food, fuel, and clothing, Wilkin Chapman solicitors can guide them through the opportunities and pitfalls. Alistair Latham, partner in the corporate and commercial team, explains how.
To people outside the agriculture sector, there’s often a perception that farming and agriculture is old fashioned, low-tech, and slow moving.
The truth is that the agricultural sector is always seizing new innovations and opportunities for growth. But with change comes risk and agri-business leaders have to identify where these lie and how to avoid them, as well as weigh up whether the benefit outweighs the possible consequences.
One of the most important areas for agricultural businesses to explore is sustainability. While the sector has always been conscious of the environment and its preservation and protection, growing and harvesting for food, fuel, or what we wear in a sustainable way has never been more topical – and potentially profitable.
Consumers are driving the sector to discover innovative, sustainable methods of producing food, fuel, and clothing and we are in an exciting time of change. For those willing to embrace it, there are opportunities for those who take the initiative.
Recently, my colleagues and I have been supporting agricultural businesses with sustainable innovations including vertical farming and the ethical growth of cotton, carbon capture, the entry of food supplements to market, and (of course) renewable energy with investment in wind, solar, and battery storage projects.
With these kinds of green interventions, there are always a lot of unknowns; some can be anticipated, some come as a surprise. Business leaders, especially in this sector, are often risk-takers who are willing to take a chance. It is our job to help them quantify, identify, and avoid the risks to ensure the best chance of success.
From our decades of expertise supporting thousands of organisations across agriculture and a broad range of other sectors, we know where the risks are and work with businesses to guide the way forward.
With the world changing, a growing demand for sustainably produced and sourced products and consumer expectation for companies across all sectors to clean up their act and reduce their environmental impact, it’s fast becoming the case that the greatest risk is not changing at all.
If you are looking at changing, innovating, developing, and embracing new ways of working, we would love to help. We will work with you to reduce the risk of new projects not reaching their potential and we can help to increase the profitability and sustainability of your project.
Contact Alistair to discuss this further.
